The EPA on Thursday, April 29, issued a proposals to control mercury emissions from boilers, process heaters and solid waste incinerators. Estimated annual costs of installing and operating pollution controls required under these rules would be $3.6 billion, the agency said.

Large boilers and all incinerators would be required to meet emissions limits for mercury and other pollutants. Facilities with boilers would also be required to conduct energy audits to find cost-effective ways to reduce fuel use and emissions. Smaller facilities, such as schools, with some of the smallest boilers, would not be included in these requirements, but they would be required to perform tune-ups every two years.

The EPA also is proposing to identify which non-hazardous secondary materials would be considered solid waste and which would be considered fuel. This distinction would determine whether a material can be burned in a boiler or whether it must be burned in a solid waste incinerator. The agency is also soliciting comment on several other broader approaches that would identify additional non-hazardous secondary materials as solid waste when burned in combustion units.

Combined, these proposals would cut annual mercury emissions from about 200,000 industrial boilers process heaters and solid waste incinerators, slashing overall mercury emissions by more than 50 percent. Industrial boilers and process heaters are the second largest source of mercury emissions in the United States, according to the agency.

The EPA will take comment on these proposed rules through mid-June.

A fact sheet and outline of the proposed rule are available from the EPA's website at www.epa.gov/airquality/combustion/actions.html.

Source: EPA press release.